Watanabe Seals

Watanabe Publisher Seals

The following seals illustrated immediately below (designated "1" to "M) are typically encountered "publisher's seals" as were applied by Watanabe Publisher onto "shin-hanga" prints designed by artists such as Hasui, Koitsu, Kasamatsu, Koson and others. To the collector of such prints, a knowledge of these "seals" and the time periods in which each was used is useful in determining the age (and therefore rarity and value) of such prints.

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1	1918-1924	(6mm), PRE-earthquake version
A	1924-1930	"A" seal
B	1927-1932	"B" seal
C	1929-1942	"C" seal (so-called "Sausage Seal")
D	1931-1941	"D" seal
E	1932-1942	"E" seal
F	1934-1941	"F" seal
G	1942-1945	"G" seal
H/I	ca. 1943-1947	These are not true "publisher's seals," but rather, the seals of the printer (Suri) Ono Gintaro, who was one of Watanabe's long term printers. During the years 1943-1947 his seal was sometimes placed on Hasui prints instead of the usual "publisher seal." Post-war versions of the "I"-seal are also known in conjunction with a "6mm" seal.
J	1946-1957	"6mm" seal - (Actually measures 5.5 to 6.5mm, depending on version); reads "Wa-ta-na-be" (in Japanese "katakana"). Note--unlike most other "publisher's seals", this round seal is nearly always found WITHIN (and over-printed onto) the print's image (and is typically found near the print's lower right or left corner). The seal exists in both black and red impressions. Hand-applied, random placement. (See "Special Note" below.")
K	1957-1989	"7mm" seal - Reads "Wa-ta-na-be" (in Japanese "katakana"). Again note--unlike most other "publisher's seals", this round seal is nearly always found WITHIN (and over-printed onto) the print's image (and is typically found near the print's lower right or left corner). Again, hand-applied, random placement.
L	1989-	The so-called "Heisei seal", normally seen in red (also grey version known), reads "Wa-ta-na-be" (this time, in Japanese "hiragana"). The nickname "Heisei seal" derives from this seal's first appearance at the end of Japan's Showa era (Showa era, 1926-89, ended with the death of emperor Hirohito in 1989) which also marked the beginning of the Japan's current "Heisei era" (1989 until present time).
M	?	"Gift seal", reads "Wa-ta-na-be" (this time, in Japanese "hiragana")

Please note, prints by Ito Shinsui are an exception which do not follow these rules. In contrast to above said, his prints published by Watanabe rather carry the black round "6mm" seal instead the seals "A" through "G" (see additional comments under "Exceptions" below).

Special Note--"Missing" Watanabe Seals

We are often asked about Watanabe-published prints (and typically, it seems, those by artist Hasui) which appear to be totally "missing" their expected 6mm or 7mm seals. Actually, as it turns out, such "un-sealed" prints (hand-applied) are not at all uncommon from Watanabe Publisher. And perhaps this should not be a surprise, considering the popularity of Hasui's prints combined with his amazing lifetime output of some 550 images.

Having randomly examined several hundreds of these typically 1940's to 1960's era prints, it seems that about 1 in every 10 to 15 of these OLDER prints that we handle from Watanabe seem to be entirely missing any publisher's seal--either in the print's margins or within the image. Sometimes, however, one does have to look very closely to locate the small, black, round 6mm seal--as it can be very difficult to see and is sometimes placed a bit higher in the image than one might normally expect.

In any case, these 6mm or 7mm seals are always hand-applied..... and it seems quite simply that Watanabe's staff occasionally forgot to do so. Althought this can then make such a given print a bit more "difficult" to precisely date within a given time period, usually an "experienced eye" can still state with a "very high level of confidence" whether a print is of "6mm vintage" (that is, of the period 1946-57) based on an examination of the print's paper and aging, printing quality, blockwear, and other factors (see related article on "Old Paper"). In the judgement of these authors, the absence of such a hand-appliled seal does NOT or should not diminish the value of these randomly occuring and clearly older prints.

Exceptions to the Rules

This well-known Hokusai print (seen left), commonly titled "Red Mt Fuji, At Dawn" (also more correctly as "South Wind, Clear Dawn" ("Gaifu Kaisei"), does seem to be one exception to the usually rigid print-sealing practices of Watanabe Publisher. Having sold numerous copies of this exceptional print, it has been our observation that "Red Fuji" clearly lacks the obvious "random placement" that we see in other prints. (Having on several occasions had 3-4 copies "in-hand" at the same time side-by-side, we can see no variation of 6mm seal's placement.)

Hence, it DOES appear that Watanabe "broke the rules" and actually CARVED the 6mm seal INTO the "Fuji" key-block (or accomplished the same by possibly inserting a cut-off 6mm seal ("hanko") into the key-block's face). As a result, in the case of "Red Fuji," one does find 6mm seals on POST-1957 printings.

Turning next to the "bijin-ga" prints of Ito Shinsui, usually these prints from Watanabe Publisher are observed to have been published using a 6mm seal--despite the fact that 62 of Shinsui's lifetime output of 76 prints are indeed PRE-War images. Here, in most cases and for reasons unknown, Watanabe typically choose to use a simple 6mm seal instead of seals "A" through "G" that we as collectors would otherwise expect. Hence, in the case of these Ito Shinsui prints, one DOES expect these PRE-War prints to bear a 6mm seal (which is otherwise expected to be a "post-War seal").

In a few cases, as seen in the 1932 "Maiko" print (seen left), Watanabe "double-sealed" some early prints, using BOTH a 6mm seal along with the appropriate "A" through "G" seal additionally appearing in the print's margin. Other "double-sealed" prints (illustrated in "The Female Image") include "Fireworks" (pl#71, 1932), "Apricot" (pl#74, 1933), and "Nails" (pl#79, 1936). Other examples likely exist.

Finally, in the case of at least one early print by Shinsui, the 1927 Watanabe-published print "Long Undergarment" (seen as pl#50), Watanabe is seen to have used only an "A" seal alone--without any 6mm seal observed. (Guess you'd call this an "exception" to the "exceptions of the rule.") Again, other early examples likely exist.

Additional Watanabe Seals

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9mm Seal 1916

Taisho Box Seal 1917

1927 Shunsen

6mm block carved

The wide "9mm seal" (reads "Wa-ta-na-be" in Japanese "katakana") can be found on Taisho era (1912-26) prints by Charles Bartlett and Takahashi Hiroaki.

The "Taisho Box Seal" (reads "Wa-ta-na-be" in Japanese "hiragana") is seen on a 1917 print by Ito Shinsui. This seal should not be confused with the much later "Heisei seal" of almost identical shape.

Several prints by Natori Shunsen bear the above shown seal "Watanabe ko."

Some later "ukiyo-e" reproductions now carry a "block-cut" "6mm seal"; this means that the "seal" itself is actually carved INTO the print's "keyblock" rather than being applied (by hand) to the print at the end of the printing process. This "block-cut" seal does not then therefore necessarily indicate an early printing (that is, before 1957)--see "Red Fuji" example above.

Watanabe Publisher "Seals" Timeline

The above "timeline" graphically illustrates the periods of activity for the various printers employed
by Watanabe who are mentioned in this article.

(Timeline courtesy of our good friend, Marc Kahn, who runs a wonderfully informative website called Shotei.com.)

For further information on Watanabe Publisher seals see:

Pachter, Irwin J., Kawase Hasui and his Contemporaries: The Shin Hanga (New Print) Movement in Landscape Art (Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, 1986).

Kawase Hasui: Lyric Poetry in Taisho and Showa [Kawase Hasui: Jojoh no shi Taisho, Showa no fukei hanga (Yamanashi Prefecture Museum, Yamanashi, 1990).

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